So these are the Drop THX Panda wireless headphones. Now their claim to fame is that these are
a pair of wireless Audiophile headphones that feature both Phase Correct Planar ribbon drivers
and a zero distortion THX Triple A amplifier. The end result is that these are a pair of
headphones that don’t understand the meaning of distortion, they have very neutral bass,
and extremely crisp vocals. Now these headphones will definitely make one group of people very
happy and could disappoint another group. So im definitley going to have to say that
the Panda’s are a pair of very niche headphones.
Now first off there’s price… the Panda’s retail for $400 and if you’re looking for
a pair of full featured headphones with active noise cancelation, an ambient mode, and maybe
even an adjustable EQ… then look at something else cause the Panda’s don’t have any
of that. Their main priority is sound. But nonetheless we’re still going to compare
these headphones to main stream options where it applies.
Now the Panda’s come included with a hardshell case… now its definitely not my favorite
cause this thing is huge. Its bigger than the Surface Headphone’s case and it just
dwarfs both the Sony 1000XM4’s and Bose NC 700’s case. So the Panda’s case wouldn’t
be my first choice for commuting. However at least this case isn’t as large as the
Shure Aonic 50’s case. And id rather have some kind of a case rather than the AirPods
Max magic bra.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves… personally for me I feel the build quality
of the Panda’s is very meh. Now these headphones have a mostly plastic body construction, now
there’s nothing wrong about that but this build just doesn’t compete with more main
stream options. Now the ear cups are semi smooth and semi textured and this hinge swivels
very little resistance… we’re all good here. But when it comes to the headband thats
a whole other story. Now this headband takes a lot of effort to extend and retract and
the sound this headband makes isn’t the greatest. Now up top we’ve got silicon with
very little padding which untimely does adversely effect comfort. But right now I just want
to focus on the flexibility of this headband… this thing likes to twist a lot. Now I wouldn’t
say that thats a bad thing but I just want to be cautious cause maybe there could be
a headband cracking issue like we saw with the earlier Sony 1000XM1’s. Now im not saying
that it will happen but its something I would look out for. And finally there’s the leatherette
on these headphones… it decent but its defeneitly don’t feel as good as the leatherette that
you’ll find on either the Bose NC 700 or Surface Headphones and it certainly doesn’t
feel as good as the sheep skin leather you’ll find on the momentum 3’s.
But now lets talk about comfort… foremost we’re going to have to address the Panda’s
weight cause it something that I recently harped on with the AirPods Max. Now the Panda’s
weigh in at 378 grams which is a lot for a pair of wireless headphones. Now the AirPods
Max are still king weighing in at 385 grams… but nonetheless the Panda’s are a pair of
very heavy headphones that you won’t forget that you have on. You’ll constantly notice
them if youre sitting still at your desk working or in your bed watching a movie and you’ll
really notice these headphones swinging around when you’re walking with them on. And for
comparison sake all of these other more main stream options are considerably lighter than
the Panda’s. The Momentum 3’s weigh in at 305 which is still a little on the heftier
side but they’re way more manageable than the panda’s… then there are the Bose NC
700’s which weigh in at 264 grams and the Sony 1000XM4’s weigh in at 254 grams meaning
that these headphones are very easy to forget that you have on and you really don’t notice
them when you’re waling around with them on. But if you’re someone thats looking
for maximum comfort then you’ll might want to look into either the Bose QC35’s which
weigh in at 240 grams or the Sennheiser PXC 550 II’s which weigh in at 227 grams.
But weigh aside the panda’s aren’t my favorite fitting headphones for two main reasons.
First off theres clamping force… the Panda’s fit very tight, they actually have more clamping
force than the AirPods Max. Now ive tried stretching these headphones out and leaving
them stretched out over night, but no luck. So I am going to have to say that these headphones
are not big head approved. But another problem that I have with the fit of these headphones
is their lack of padding underneath their headband. Like I mentioned earlier this headband
has very little padding… and combined with these headphone’s weight and clamping force
ive noticed that this headband like to create a hot spot on the top of your head fairly
quickly. At like the 20 minute mark you start to feel some discomfort and at like the 40
minute I gotta take a break. So weight, clamping force, and very minimal padding underneath
their headband are the main reasons why im not a fan of the Panda’s comfort.
But when it comes to the ear pads, they’re decent. Now the Panda’s ear pads are nowhere
near as spacious as either the Bose NC 700’s ear pads on Sennheiser PXC 550 II’s ear
pads… so if you’ve got larger ears or ears that stick out a lot you’ll defeneitly
still want to go with either of those. But the Panda’s ear pads are very similar to
the Sony 1000XM4’s and Momentum 3’s ear pads in diameter… but they are a little
more shallow. Cuase the pandas do press down on my ears just a little bit where as these
other two don’t. So over all when it comes to build quality the Panda’s certainly get
the job done, but the word premium does not come to mind and when it comes to fit im going
to have to say that these are my least faovitre fitting headphones here cause of their weight,
clamping force, and minimal headband padding.
But now lets talk about tech specs. The Panda’s charge via a USB C port as they should in
2021 and they have an advertised battery life of 30 hours which is not bad for a pair of
wireless headphones that don’t have active noise cancelation. And these headphones also
have decent fast charging where if you plug them in for 10 minutes from a dead battery
they’ll get you 3 hours of playback time.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity the Panda’s are using bluetooth 5.0 and
they can be simultaneously connected to two devices at the same time so you can easily
hot swap from one device to another which could be a big deal for some power users out
there. However I do gotta point out it does take these headphones a few seconds to go
from playing audio from one source to another.
So for example if im playing music on my phone and then I start watching a video on my computer…
in order for the pandas to switch you gotta pause your audio on your phone, and then start
your audio on your computer and then you gotta wait a few seconds for the pandas to actually
switch over. Now this isn’t a huge deal but I do want to point this out for that power
user just looking for a as seamless as possible set up. Cause with these other headphones
they switch between audio source much quicker.
But more importantly when it comes to watching movies or videos on your phone the Panda’s
have zero latency across the board whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device
which is always good. And when it comes to audio codecs these headphones give you options.
Now obviously these headphones have SBC and AAC, thats standard. But they also have APTX,
APTX HD and they even have APTX Adaptive. And on top of all of the APTX they also have
Sony’s LDAC.
But if you want to you can always just use a red connection with these headphones cuase
they have an easy to reach 3.5 millimeter audio jack, and Ould you look at that… they
even come included with an audio cable. But you can also use the USB C port on these as
a wired connection as well which isn’t a super common feature yet. And personally I
really like the fact that drop also included a thin and flexible 4 foot USB C cable as
well.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these headphones. For starters if you’re
someone that likes to physically feel their music and if you want the bass to rattle your
head… than the Panda’s aren’t for you. Now the bass on these headphones does resonate
a great deal and sounds great… but it does take a lot of bass to get them there. So if
you’re someone that wants to physically feel their bass then you’ll definitely want
to go with the sony 1000XM4’s or maybe even the AirPods Max. Now with that out of the
way, the first thing I gotta point out about the panda’s is that these headphones get
extremely loud. The panda’s get significantly louder than the AirPods max and over all I
can’t use them anywhere past 85 percent volume. I feel that anything after that is
going to cause hearing damage. Now sound stage and instrument separation wise the Panda’s
easily sound more open than both the Sony’s and Bose. I wanna say the Panda’s sound
as open as the AirPods Max but they don’t sound as open as the Momentum 3’s. Now the
main reason why I wanna say the Panda’s don’t sound as open as the Momentum 3’s
is cuase the mids and highs on the Panda’s are just a little too raised. Very similar
to the AirPods Max. So just like with the AirPods Max, vocalists are front and center
here but on rare occasion they can get a little ear piercing. But even still since vocals
are getting the most exposure here sometimes they can out shine the instrumentals. But
nonetheless the mid on the Panda’s are phenomenal. Now when it comes to the bass, like ive mentioned
a few times already the panda’s have very neutral bass and for the most part the bass
on these headphones isn’t going to physically rattle your head all that much. The bass on
these headphones is mostly on the audible side similar to what you would find like on
the Bose NC 700 or Bowers and Wilkins PX7. Now the bass on the Panda’s is tighter and
resonates deeper and cleaner than the bass on the Bose NC 700’s but it doesn’t hit
as hard as the bass on the PX7’s. So with all the being said, the easiest way for me
to describe the Drop Panda’s sound is by saying that they sound like the AirPods Max
but without as much physicality in their bass. Which could be a good thing for some people.
Now the Panda’s sound great and they sound way more open than the Bose NC 700 and Sony
1000XM4’s… but I am going to have to say that the Panda’s are better suited for people
who like a more vocals focused brighter EQ. Cause if you’re someone that likes a more
neutral EQ than I feel you might think these sound a little too bright. And personally
for me Im still going to have to say that I still prefer the Momentum 3’s over the
Panda’s. Unlike the Panda’s and AirPods Max the Momentum 3’s don’t put as much
of an emphasis on the vocals so they do sound a little more open and the instrumentals don’t
get out shined by the volcaists and they do have more resonating and physical bass than
both the Panda’s and AirPods max. Now im someone that appreciates clarity and balance
in my music… but I still want to physically feel my music.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Its not good. To be honest I haven’t heard
a microphone this bad in awhile. First off there’s this constant background and hissing
noise. And keep in mind im in a quiet room right now. But then when it comes to my voice
I sound very robotic. So personally I wouldn’t take phone calls with these headphones.
And for comparison sake all of these headphones have better sounding microphones than the
drop panda. Now the Sonys might not be the best… but it is better than the Drop Panda.
The Momentum 3’s also sound good but this microphone doesn’t do all that much to block
out ambient noise.
But if you plan on taking lots and lots of phone calls then you’ll might want to go
with either the AirPods Max or Bose NC 700’s. Now both of these headphones have great sounding
microphones for phone calls
But im very hard press to declare one the over all winner because they both take very
different approaches when it comes to blocking out ambient noise. Now if you want to compare
the two you can always my AirPods Max vs Bose headphones videos… but over all what im
trying to get at here is that the microphone on the Drop panda is not great for either
2021 or their price.
So with all that being said. The drop pandas are a pair of very niche wireless headphones
for somebody that like a vocals focused brighter sound signature. Now if youre an audiophile
the Panda’s give you a lot of options for wireless headphones. You’ve got support
for multiple flavors of APTX and you’ve even got LDAC. And you can either use the
3.5 millimeter audio jack or USB C port on these headphones if you want to use a wired
connection. Something that apple would look down on you for. Now if you’re that niche
costumer and this list of features intrigues you by all means the Drop Panda are a solid
pick up. But personally I think the Panda’s have a lot of room for improvement. First
of which is their comfort. For me the panda’s are way too heavy to consider as daily drivers
cause you never forget that you have these headphones on and they’re super noticeable
when you're walking around with them on. They’re also not big head approved cause these things
have a lot of clamping force. And I really wish their headband had more padding. Over
all im a fan of the tech packed inside these headphones… but I think im going to hold
off for the Drop Panda 2’s.